


Moth to the Flame

by lydiasage



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-03 14:50:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydiasage/pseuds/lydiasage
Summary: Moving to Alola was going to be the type of adventure Verina never expected it to be; full of new experiences, tons of pokemon, and interesting people. (Some more interesting than others.)





	1. Home?

The salty ocean breeze brushed Verina’s cheeks as she opened a window to let some fresh air into her new home. She had been able to call the Alola her home for less than a week now, specifically a cute tiny house on Melemele Island. In those few days she had discovered two things: she absolutely did not bring anything appropriate to wear in this weather and the people here were nothing like the people back home. 

Her refrigerator was already completely stuffed besides the fact that she hadn’t even gone shopping yet at all. One after another her new neighbors had dropped by to say “Alola!” and fill her arms with more welcome food than she knew what to do with. At least she wouldn’t go hungry for a while! Not that she were worried about that in the first place, but it was nice to know that everyone here was so friendly and would probably be nice enough to help her if she needed it. 

The reason she chose to move to Alola wasn’t anything big, she grew up in Kanto and had lived there all 20 years of her life and had loved it. Her parents owned a very popular restaurant that did well, she was loved, had many friends, got a good education, but all without ever seeing anything new. She didn’t think anyone could blame her for wanting to see the world a little, and once she read about the Alola Region in a traveling magazine she knew that’s where she wanted to go. The culture, the pokemon, it all looked so beautiful and fascinating. She knew she had to see it herself, in person. 

She bought a one-way ticket and said goodbye to her old life with only a few tears. She loved her parents and would definitely miss them but Verina had always been a very independent girl and knew she was capable of handling herself. She was going to miss tham and her friends a lot though, although she thought the distance there might make things a little easier due to recent events. 

Her particular group of close friends consisted of 3 people: Delilah, Matt, and Maron. Maron also being her ex-boyfriend, whom she had a bit of a rocky breakup with. All her friends were so close it made it difficult to be around them, no one wanted to say anything bad about each other or leave anyone out of the loop but the breakup really put a strain on all her relationships between them. As much as she would miss them, she wouldn’t miss the awkward moments, the little snide comments, or stress of trying to remain civil and polite around each other. 

Alola was just what she needed! Something fresh and new for her to immerse herself in. She couldn’t wait to meet all the people and pokemon that these islands were home to. 

But first thing’s first- she needed to buy some new clothes. Every single item of clothes Verina brought from home was way too warm for this weather, save for an old pair of jean shorts that were just a little to short for her comfort and a soft blue halter top she didn’t even remember buying. 

Maybe it belonged to Delilah and I accidentally packed it, she thought in wonder as she pulled it out of one of the many boxes that inhabited her new bedroom. Either way she were glad it ended up here with her as she quickly changed out of the long-sleeve shirt she was currently suffocating in.

She turned around and admired herself in the body length mirror placed in the corner of her room. It was actually pretty cute, the blue complimented her pale skin surprisingly, almost making it glow. The top clung to her curves nicely, showing them off but not enough to be indecent, before becoming flowing and ending just above where her shorts began. She was particularly fond of the little delicate shells sewn around the neckline. She slipped on some white tennis shoes, thinking she should probably purchase some sandals or flip flops at some point for when she decided to go to the beach.

Her plans for the day were kind of vague. Mostly she just wanted to get out of the house and away from all the boxes staring her down. She had tried her best to unpack but there was only so much she could handle at once before getting exhausted even thinking about it. SHe needed a break before her brain died of boredom. She also needed to go shopping for some basic things; especially more pokemon food, as the amount she brought with her from home was getting low. She only had two pokemon, an Espeon and a Vivillon, but they ate a lot more than one would expect. Especially Espeon considering how small she was compared to the average Espeon. 

Verina’s Espeon had been with her ever since she could remember, received as a gift in the form of a cute little Eevee from her parents when she were little. She named her Sweetpea and she couldn’t remember a moment of her childhood when she wasn’t at her side. It didn’t take long for her to evolve into Espeon. Her Vivillon was also a gift, but from her Aunt May when she came to visit once. She was very fond of traveling herself and encountered all sorts of incredible pokemon on her trips. Whenever she came to visit she would spend hours telling Verina about all of them, sometimes even showing her the ones she caught. When she let Vivillon out of her luxury ball, her snow-white wings fluttering around her head excitedly, Verina was absolutely in love. She spent all afternoon running around the yard, playing with Vivillon and Espeon and when the time for Aunt May to leave finally came, she gave Verina a kiss on the cheek and pressed the luxury ball into her niece’s hands and told her that she couldn’t take Vivillon away from her new best friend. Verina named Vivillon Petunia and her and her two pokemon had been inseparable ever since. 

She loved them both dearly, they were the best companions anyone could ever ask for. Vivillon was like a ray of sunshine, always sweet, always excited, and always ready to play. Espeon on the other hand could be a little...temperamental. She didn't really like anyone besides her trainer and would definitely let everyone know it. She was always very loyal and protective, although stubborn too. But so was Verina so she couldn’t really be blamed.

In addition to shopping, she was also supposed to be meeting with a professor today, someone named Kukui. He had sent her a message on her Pokedex apologizing for not being able to welcome her sooner, explaining that he had been attending to business on one of the other islands and it kept him away. He actually lived just down the road from her, closer to the water, and she were welcome to stop by at any time if she wanted to. 

His message had seemed very friendly and nice but Verina were still nervous. Was she just supposed to come by unannounced? She sat on her bed and pondered it for a moment before quickly shooting off a message just to be polite, thanking him for the welcome and saying she would stop by before running some errands today. 

She glanced at herself in the mirror one more time, hesitant to leave the house that had so far been her sanctuary. She was definitely excited but still nervous to be officially making her debut into the lives of all the people and pokemon she was bound to meet. Her grey eyes looked apprehensively back at her and she made an effort to school her expression into something that looked less like she was about to be tortured. She pulled a hair tie off of her wrist and quickly pulled her long ash-brown hair into a messy bun, leaving a few strands to frame her face, giving herself a smile that she hoped looked confident and calm. 

She felt something brush against her legs and looked down to see Espeon rubbing against them, purring loudly. 

“Hi there, Sweetpea, you ready to go exploring?” Verina murmured affectionately, giving her a rub behind her ears. 

The Espeon gave her a curious look, somehow conveying the message that she was ready for anything and Verina should know it. With a final pat on the head Verina stood up and grabbed her bag while trying not to trip over Sweetpea. 

She left her bedroom and Vivillon came fluttering from out of the kitchen, probably from sitting by the window which seemed to be her favorite spot in the new house, chirping wildly as she landed on her trainer’s shoulder. She definitely seemed excited at the idea of leaving the house for more than a breath of fresh air. 

“Petunia, please try to sit still,” Verina complained with no real heat, after getting hit in the face with her wings like three times and Petunia chirped what sounded like the least apologetic sorry ever expressed into her ear. 

Verina did have pokeballs for both of them but she didn’t really use them often, only in places it wouldn’t be safe for them to be out and about. They preferred to be by her side anyway and Verina liked it that way too. 

She headed out the front door, making sure Sweetpea was out too before locking it. The sun was warm on her face as she turned to face the road they would be walking and she was very relieved to not still be wearing that long-sleeved shirt. 

Walking towards the water she admired how beautiful the island was, Petunia leaving her shoulder to go inspect some bright yellow flowers that were growing along the road, ever curious and unable to stay still. 

Verina walked slowly, letting her pokemon and herself enjoy all the new sights and if she was honest she was hoping to work up the confidence to meet this Professor Kukui on the walk also.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we'll be meeting quite a few of the other characters in the next chapter! including the one everyone is looking forward too.. please let me know what u think because i have no idea how i feel about this!


	2. A Litten Egg?

By the time Verina made it to Professor Kukui’s house she had mostly shaken off her nervousness. It was hard to be anxious in such a gorgeous place. The sun warmed her to her bones and the fresh ocean air calmed her with every breath she took. Espeon stuck pretty close to her on the walk over but even her eyes wandered a little, curious but wary off the new area. 

Vivillon on the other hand had no such qualms, and multiple times Verina had to call out a quick, “Petunia!” as a warning not to go to far from her. As long as Verina could see her she could explore all she wanted. It wasn’t that she doubted Vivillon’s capabilities to take care of herself, she just didn’t want her going too far until they knew the island better. 

The warnings didn’t stop Petunia from fluttering over to anything that caught her interest though. It was mostly flowers and plants, she brought Verina a couple berries from a tree for which Verina thanked her for and stuck in her bag, not quite sure if they were even edible. She also saw some wild pokemon, a couple Caterpie and some Rattata that looked much different than the ones she was used to seeing back home. 

All in all, what probably should have been a five-minute walk took about twenty minutes but no one was complaining. The Professor’s house was cute, a similar style to Verina’s own new home. She made her way up the porch steps and knocked on the door lightly without giving herself time to hesitate. 

Whatever Verina was expecting the professor to look like it wasn’t the man who stood before her when the door swung open suddenly revealing a shirtless man dressed in a lab coat, lab goggles, and a baseball cap. 

“Alola! You must be Verina?” The man questioned, smiling brightly. 

Verina smiled back hesitantly, offering him her hand to shake, “That’s me! And you’re...Professor Kukui?” 

He nodded, still smiling and shook her hand more gently than she was expectly. 

“I am! Welcome to Alola, by the way! Please come inside!” He ushered her through the door, Espeon on her heels. Before he could close the door though Verina called Petunia’s name to get her attention from the flowers she got distracted by in the windowsill. 

She flew through the door, chattering excitedly when she saw the Professor and immediately going to land on his hat-covered head. He laughed at her antics and held his arm up for her to climb onto. 

“I’m assuming she belongs to you?” He asked Verina, while trying to get a good look at the pokemon who wouldn’t stop moving around.” 

“Yes, I’m sorry about her, she loves new people,” Verina explained, only slightly embarrassed by her pokemon’s actions. She was used to it by now, besides it could be worse. At least her Vivillon was friendly, she wouldn’t know what to do if Petunia attacked people instead of loving them to death. 

“Oh, no worries, what kind of pokemon professor would I be if I didn’t want to be around pokemon?” Professor Kukui laughed as Petunia fluttered her wings against his face in reply. 

“I love her coloring! I haven’t seen a Vivillon with this particular pattern before, how did you come across her?” He gestured to the couch in the corner of the room and took a seat himself. 

Verina sat down too, hands ready to hold Sweetpea as she jumped into her lap and situated herself facing Professor Kukui. His eyes widened when he saw the Espeon and he moved forward to get a better look at her. 

“I didn’t even see you! Hi there!” As warm of a welcome as it was, Sweetpea’s expression didn’t change as she stared at him intently without blinking, but he didn’t seem bothered or unnerved. Verina couldn’t tell if that was just his personality or just a side effect of being around so many pokemon in his line of work; maybe a little of both. 

She smiled while absently rubbing Sweetpea behind the ears, “This is Sweetpea, although her name doesn’t quite fit her personality in regards to other people.” 

“And that’s Petunia,” Verina gestured to the Vivillon who was still perched on the professor’s arm, vying for his attention. “My Aunt caught her and gave her to me when I was younger. I’m not quite sure where but I could ask her sometime if you wanted?”

He beamed atVerina’s offer, “If you don’t mind! I’d love to know, if you got the chance to ask. I’ve seen a lot of Vivillon patterns, but never black and white, it’s very beautiful.” 

He said the last part more to Petunia than anyone else and Verina restrained herself from rolling her eyes at how the Vivillon soaked up the compliment, nuzzling herself as close to him as she could get. 

Great, Verina thought to herself, she’s lovestruck.

“It’s so good to finally meet you all! Again, I’m so sorry I couldn’t have dropped by earlier, I got caught up with some business on Akala Island and-” The professor cut himself off as he stared over the trainer’s shoulder. 

“Lillie! Why don’t you come down and say hello to Melemele’s newest resident?” He called. Verina turned around in her seat to see a young blonde girl climbing down a ladder to what looked like a loft.   
Once she was on the ground Verina noticed she was dressed in all white and had a sort of front-pack type thing strapped to her, holding what looked to be like a pokemon egg. 

“Hello, I’m Lillie,” she said in a tiny voice, her big green eyes eyeing the Espeon who was now grooming herself on her trainer’s lap. 

“Hi, Lillie, it’s lovely to meet you, I’m Verina,” she spoke gently, feeling as if any unnecessary harshness might scare her away. “Can I ask what kind of pokemon will hatch from that egg?” 

She looked down at the egg strapped to her in surprise, as if she had forgotten it was there. “Oh, this…this is a Popplio egg, I’m helping the professor hatch it for one of the trainers who will be participating in the Island Challenges.” 

Verina was happy she had read all about the Island Challenges prior to coming to Alola so she knew somewhat what Lillie was talking about. 

“Oh, very cool! It’s very kind of you to help,” she told Lillie who looking at the professor apprehensively. 

“Professor...where’s the Rowlet egg? I thought you were holding it?” She questioned, looking very serious despite being so young. 

Professor scratched his head sheepishly, “Well, I was practicing some moves with Rockruff and I didn’t want to put the egg in harm’s way so it’s in the incubator for now.” 

“But professor, it’s better for the eggs to be close to you as much as possible! They’ll hatch faster and healthier that way!” Lillie looked worried as she walked over to an egg incubator and opened it up to peer inside, only slightly relieved at seeing the egg unharmed. 

“I’m sorry, Lillie,” Professor Kukui sounded genuinely apologetic and Verina got the sense he really didn’t mean to distress Lillie. “I can’t hold the egg every second of the day though, and many pokemon hatch just from being in incubators in perfect health.” 

Lillie didn’t look convinced and she picked up the egg up and went to sit on the couch with it on her lap, a little awkwardly since she still had the other egg on her as well. 

“You see, we have three eggs right now: a Popplio one, a Litten one, and a Rowlet one, but it’s only me and Lillie here at the moment so we have been rotating between holding them as much as we can and having them in the incubator…” Professor Kukui trailed off with a one shouldered shrug, eyes soft as he watched Lillie gently place a hand on each of the eggs. 

Verina knew quite a bit about pokemon breeding because Maron’s family owned a pokemon ranch and she had helped out on it more than once while they were dating. A lot of pokemon eggs don’t get to be held every second of the day and turn out fine but she thought it was sweet how dedicated Lillie was to these eggs. 

“I used to help out a lot at a ranch that hatched a lot of pokemon eggs,” she told Lillie. “Sometimes the Kangaskhan who didn’t have any little ones held the eggs and the pokemon that hatched from them were really friendly.” 

Lillie’s eyes widened at that, looking down at the eggs in wonder.

“Do you think…” she hesitate, trailing her fingers over one of the eggs. “Do you think you would want to hold one? You must know a lot about pokemon eggs with your experience…”

She looked so nervous to be asking so Verina tried to comfort her with some enthusiasm.

“I would love to! If you’re comfortable with it, Professor,” she glanced at him worried she might be overstepping her boundaries but the professor just nodded, looking pleased with the turn of events. 

“You can just call me Kukui, no need for such formalities!” He laughed heartily. “And Lillie is right, with your experience I’m more than comfortable with you handling the pokemon eggs. Actually, I know this is a lot to ask since I’m sure you’re still settling in, but would you be interested at all in the full care of one of the eggs?” 

Verina felt shocked that he would ask almost a complete stranger such a question; that he would even trust her with the care of something so important. But she knew it wasn’t too difficult to care for an egg, and she did love doing it…

“I…I would be honored, Profess- I mean, Kukui,” Verina stammered, flushing slightly at his huge grin. 

“Awesome! This will be so great won’t it, Lillie? Now with the three of us each egg will get a lot more time to be held. I’ll go get the Litten egg and some other things for you.” The professor stood up, much to Petunia’s dismay as she was forced to stop cuddling with him.

Lillie was smiling too and Verina wondered what her story was. Was she Kukui’s daughter? She didn’t look like him at all but genetics could do interesting things sometimes. 

“Hey, Lillie, so you live here?” She asked, settling more into the couch so she could face the younger girl as she talked to her. 

Lillie nodded slightly. “Yes, I do, at the moment. The professor was kind enough to let me stay here while I study pokemon with him, I’m sort of an...assistant, I guess,” she explained, though Verina felt like she wasn’t telling the full truth but she wasn’t going to force the girl to share more than she wanted to. 

“That sounds like a ton of fun, Kukui seems like a really great guy! I bet he’s an awesome mentor too.” Verina smiled reassuringly and Lillie nodded once more, looking relieved she wasn’t going to be interrogated. She didn’t seem like much of a talker, it made Verina curious how someone so young was so timid. 

The professor came back with another pokemon egg, a portable incubator, and a front-pack harness like the one Lillie was wearing. 

“Wow, thank you so much! I promise to do my best taking care of this egg, I can’t wait to see a Litten too, I’m not familiar with that pokemon,” Verina said excitedly, standing up quickly and making Espeon grumble. Verina took the harness and attempted to put it on and buckle it herself. 

Professor Kukui laughed, “Here, turn around and I’ll buckle it for you. And I believe you will, Lillie and I have complete faith in you.”

Verina blushed slightly as he clicked the buckle into place and pulled the straps to tighten them against her body before turning her around and picking up the portable incubator which held the egg. He didn’t seem to know the effect he had on people which unfortunately made him even more charming. 

He held out the incubator with a grin and Verina took it with smile that rivaled his, holding the egg in her arms for the first time. There was nothing more grounding than holding a pokemon egg, at least in Verina’s opinion. There was a tiny creature in that egg relying completely on the kindness and care of people it didn’t know. She didn’t want to let it down, wouldn’t let it down, no matter what. 

She carefully transferred the egg into the harness and sat back down on the couch and Sweetpea forced her way back onto her trainer’s lap, ignoring the fact that there was less room than before. 

“As a thank you, I’d like to update your Pokédex, if you don’t mind that is. That way you can get the latest information about Alolan pokemon whenever you need it!” 

Verina was a little stunned by how nice this man was.

“Wow, I definitely don’t mind. Thank you, really, that is so kind of you.” Her cheeks were beginning to hurt with how much she was smiling today. 

He waved a hand through the air as if to brush her thank you away, “It’s my pleasure, honesty. Maybe it’s a little selfish of me too, the more people with an updated Pokédex, the more data I can collect. I just wish I could offer you one of the new Rotom Pokédexes I’m working on but they’re not ready to be used yet, unfortunately.”

Rotom...Pokédex? Whatever the professor was working on sounded groundbreaking, Verina couldn’t believe she hasn’t heard of him before moving here. It was more than a little exciting to be living just down the road from such an amazing professor, but also a little intimidating too. 

Verina pulled out her Pokédex, handing it over to the professor. 

“It’ll probably take a couple hours to update, you’re welcome to stay here if you want and wait. I can make tea and we have plenty of snacks if you’re hungry?” The professor plugged the Pokédex into his laptop and starting clicking away. 

She pondered the offer for a moment before deciding against it. 

“If you don’t mind, can I come back later? I did have some errands to run today and I’m not sure how long it will take me since everything is so new to me.” She explained, standing up again and making Espeon even more grumpier as she was dislodged once again and placed on the couch alone. 

“No, that’s totally fine! Lillie and I should be here all day working on things so just pick it up whenever you’re ready. Do you think you can make your way around without your Dex?” He questioned, which was very thoughtful of him because Verina hadn’t even thought of that. 

It was an island, how lost could you get? Verina dismissed the idea. 

“I’m sure we'll be fine, we’re just doing a little shopping. C’mon Sweetpea, Petunia, let’s get this stuff done!” She didn’t really need to call her Espeon because Sweetpea was already by her feet again, practically under them, but she had lost sight of the black and white Vivillon and hoped it wasn’t getting into trouble. 

To her relief Petunia came fluttering out from the loft area in a blur of excitement and landed on her trainer’s head, surely messing up her already messy bun. 

She tsked the pokemon, seeing the look of horror Lillie’s face once she realized where the pokemon had been. 

“Petunia,” she scolded, “you know better than to go into places you haven’t been invited to. Say you’re sorry to Lillie.” 

Petunia chirped a soft apology that didn’t really sound genuine but seemed to erase a little of the stress off Lillie’s face. 

“Oh, it’s...alright. Please ask next time though, Petunia.” Lillie held both the eggs a little closer to her body as she talked. 

Verina nodded at her in acknowledgment and hoped the Vivillon hadn’t messed up their relationship somehow. It didn’t seem like a huge deal to Verina but maybe Lillie really valued her privacy.

“Well, we’ll be off then, see you guys later!” Verina said goodbye as she opened the door, letting Vivillon fly out followed by Espeon quickly sliding through the door. Lillie said a soft goodbye in return and she thought Kukui did also but he was so absorbed in updating the Pokédex it sounded more like a hum. 

Verina closed the door behind her, amazed, pleased, and a tad confused by all that had transpired in such a short amount of time. Hopefully everyone on the island was as nice as these people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok ok i know i said guzma would be making an appearance this chapter but this felt like a natural place to end it...sorry if this was boring! please let me know what you think of lillie and professor kukui? they're a little out of character i think but i like them this way. what do u guys think of verina too! the next chapter should be a lot more fun, we'll be going shopping and meeting some grunts and guzma too so stay tuned :+) also i know i'm making it seem like verina has a crush on kukui but he is engaged at this point in the story so there's nothing there, he just can't help being charming and that's that!


	3. Team Skull?

Verina’s trip to Hau’oli City was relatively painless. She passed a Pokemon Center that she hadn’t realize was so close to her own house along the way and made a mental note to stop by on her way back, it would probably be a good idea to stock up on some potions and repels in case she needed them. 

When she arrived at the Hau’oli Beachfront she was a little surprised to see how busy it was, although it was a beautiful day- but, really, wasn’t everyday in the Alola region? There were some Corsola running around on the sand that made Verina smile. She had never seen one up close before and their coral-like bodies were a lot more vibrant in color than in the pictures she had seen. It made her wonder if it was an Alola thing, maybe they thrived more in this environment? 

Verina made her way down the street with Petunia on her shoulder and Sweetpea in tow, making an effort to smile at the people she made eye contact, murmuring a soft, “alola” here and there, still getting the feel of it. 

Her first stop once she hit the shopping district was a clothing store, intent on picking out some clothes that the Alolan sun wouldn’t make her suffer in. She quickly bypassed all the tourist-y clothes, looking more for some staple items that wouldn’t clash. She filled her arms with v-neck t-shirts, tank tops, and shorts and started to make her way to one of the fitting rooms when something caught her eye. 

It was a beautiful white dress that was off-shoulder and flowing and went all the way to the floor. Moving the clothing around in her arms, Verina got one hand free to reach out and touch the dress and knew immediately she was going to buy it. It was so lightweight and soft, it would be absolutely perfect in this weather and there was no doubt she would look good in it. She added it to her pile and went into the dressing room, her pokemon following her. She was going to ask their opinions on all the outfits even if all she got was an excited chirp from the Vivillon and an eye roll from the Espeon every time.   
Once she was satisfied with her choices, Verina redressed, taking more time than necessary to make sure her egg’s harness was tight and secure. It was a lot more difficult without the professor there to assist her this time.

She made her purchases, mentally checking one task off of her to-do list for today. 

“Where to next, where to next…” Verina wondered aloud as she shuffled the bags around her arms, trying to find a comfortable way to carry them. Her attention so focused on the plastic handles of the bags digging into her wrists, she didn’t notice someone walking towards her at full speed, her shoulder slamming into the person.   
The force of the hit spun the young trainer around and she barely kept her balance as she let out a small shriek, more in surprise than in pain. 

“Yo, sorry, lady! Shit, I didn’t see you there!” Someone grabbed her upper arms to steady her, but her attention was all on the Litten egg strapped to her chest. 

She dropped her shopping bags and quickly started inspecting the egg, probably more frantically than she needed to and only acknowledged the person in front of her once she knew it was unharmed.

She lifted her eyes to give them a piece of her mind but stopped at the sight in front of her. A young man stood there dressed very...well, oddly was the only word coming to Verina’s mind. 

He was dressed mostly in all black, with what looked like a heavy necklace in the shape a skull? Or a stylized S? A skull made sense because the beanie on his head also had a skull on it, hiding some very vibrant blue hair. She stood there staring at him for a moment, having trouble reading his expression because half his face was hidden behind a black bandana. 

“W-whatcha lookin’ at, lady?” He demanded, the forcefulness of his words contradicted by the stutter. False bravado. She couldn’t read his expression but his eyes kept darting nervously from her face towards to egg she was still clutching to her chest. 

“Nothing, I...just be careful who you’re bumping into, you could have hurt this little one, you know?” Although the guy didn’t seem very intimidating, she worded her answer carefully, not quite sure who she was dealing with. The Espeon at her feet seemed to think the same thing, hackles raised and tense but not making any move yet. Petunia just seemed confused, somehow still perched on Verina’s shoulder despite the collision. 

“It’s okay, right?” He stated more than asked, but his eyes betrayed his worry. 

“As far as I can see, yes.” Verina told him, glancing at the egg again in case she missed anything. 

When she looked back up at him she noticed some people on the other side of the street looking at her and the man, whispering to each other and giving him nervous looks.  
He must have noticed too because his demeanor changed almost immediately. 

“W-well, next time you might not be so lucky! So you better stay outta Team Skull’s way or we won’t hesitate to mess you up, you hear me!” The man made some weird hand motions at the end of his sentence, quickly turning around and continuing the way he was going before bumping into her. Sweetpea relaxed as soon as he turned his back on them. 

His words were obviously meant to scare her- and she was, a little. Mostly because hearing the name Team Skull reminded her of other criminal organizations like Team Rocket. Could the beautiful Alola region really be home to an organization like that? One that steals pokemon from their trainers and doesn’t care who they hurt to get what they want?

Verina had heard all about Team Rocket on the news when she was younger, almost everyday there was a new story about something terrible they had done. Surely Verina would have heard about something like that prior to moving to Alola though. 

While being slightly scared, Verina was more confused about that weird young man. He dressed oddly and talked a little odd too but she wasn’t what she would imagine a criminal to look like. He couldn’t have been much older than her and he didn’t seem to have the confidence of someone who could really do another person harm…

But then again, Verina always did seem to see the best in people and perhaps her judgment wasn’t the best. It would probably be in her best interest to ask around before making any solid opinions about this Team Skull. 

Picking up her bags from where she had dropped them, Verina made her way to the two girls who were whispering before. 

“Uh hi, I’m Verina,” she introduced herself with what she hoped was a friendly smile. “I’m new to Melemele Island, I was wondering if you knew anything about that guy that bumped into me? What’s Team Skull?” She hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but these girls seem like the type who wouldn’t mind gossiping. 

One girl nervously twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, looking off the way the Team Skull member had walked off, “Team Skull...you don’t want to get involved with them, you should really just avoid them if you can, they’re always up to no good and--” 

The girl’s friend cut her off abruptly, “Oh, Amelia, come off it! They’re a joke.” 

The second girl held her hand out for Verina to shake, “Nice to meet you, Verina, I’m Toni and this is Amelia, Melemele Island’s resident scaredy-cat, apparently.” 

Amelia made a face at that, expression haughty as she countered, “I am not! You’ve heard the stories, you know what kinds of things they do!” 

Toni’s expression softened when she saw how tense her friend was. 

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Amelia, I’m sorry. But haven’t you noticed that those stories are just that? Stories! I’ve never heard anyone say they’ve actually gotten their pokemon stolen by Team Skull, it’s always ‘a friend of a friend’ or something, you know?” 

Toni turned to Verina to explain more, deep emerald eyes very serious, “Team Skull is just a group of wannabe thugs, they act tough but I don’t think they have it in them to really hurt anyone, at least from what I’ve seen. People don’t like them much because they’re loud and obnoxious though, so if you associate yourself with them you have to be ready to get some strange looks. People might not be very kind towards you if they know you’re friendly with Team Skull.” She shrugged while she pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. 

“I’ve heard their boss is really mean,” Amelia was twirling her hair again, it seemed to be a nervous habit. 

“Who’s their boss?” Verina questioned, wondering who could possible in control of such an unorganized organization. 

“His name’s Guzma. Real rough guy. Used to live on Route 2, I believe, but now Team Skull all hangs out at Po Town, they’ve kind of taken it over.” Toni was the one who answered you because Amelia had kneeled down and started baby-talking to Sweetpea who wasn’t quite sure how to respond to the blonde girl’s silly words. 

“Oh! You’re such a pretty girl, aren’t you? You’re so beautiful! I’ve never seen such a pretty Espeon before!” Amelia held her hand out for Sweetpea to sniff but the Espeon backed up so she was halfway behind Verina’s legs. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry! Oh, I know! Would you like some poke beans? If it’s okay with Verina, that is?” Amelia looked up at the trainer in question and Verina just shrugged. Sweetpea would eat anything, wasn’t like Verina could stop her. 

“Oh, goody, here you go!” Amelia dug a handful of what looked to be multi-colored beans out of her bag and offered them to the Espeon, catching Petunia’s interest as well. 

The Vivillon swooped down and landing on the girl’s wrist making her giggle, “Wow, you’re very pretty too! Nice to meet you!” 

Verina watched the scene with a slight smile, the Espeon darted forward to sneak a bean away from the butterfly pokemon before pawing it around on the ground, playing with it like she was hunting it. She did have really cute pokemon, they always seemed to receive this kind of attention everywhere they went. 

She looked back at Toni who was also watching the scene, but her attention was more on Amelia. Her green eyes were soft and intense, watching the blonde girl laugh and praise the Vivillon as she did cute tricks in the air for poke beans. 

Oh… Verina held back a smile when a thought struck her. While Toni seemed tough and maybe a little rough too, she had a soft spot for the sweet blonde girl she spent her time with.   
“Thank you both so much, I really appreciate your time, I’ll let you both get back to... whatever you were doing,” Toni quickly turned her attention to Verina at her words. Was that a slight blush on her cheeks? 

“No problem,” she said, her voice pitched a little high. She cleared her throat before continuing. “It was nice really to meet you, I hope you enjoy Melemele Island and that we see you around.”   
Amelia got to her feet, nodding, “Yeah, it’s so nice to meet you! Can I see your Pokédex? I’ll add my number, in case you want to get together sometime! Or if you need people to show you around or something?”

Verina grinned, that was definitely something she would take them up on, but when she reached for her Pokédex she remembered where it was. 

“Oh shoot, I don’t have it on me at the moment actually…” She trailed off, wondering what to do next. 

“Here you go,” Toni pulled a little pad of paper and a pen out of her bag, handing it to Amelia.   
“Toni, you’re always so prepared!” Amelia exclaimed and there was definitely a blush on Toni’s cheeks now.

Amelia quickly wrote two numbers down on the pad before tearing the paper off and handing it to Verina, “There you go! I wrote Toni’s too, so you can contact both of us!” 

Verine folded the paper gently and stuck it in the pocket of her shorts. “Thank you, I’ll give you guys a call sometime! See you around!” 

The two girls said their goodbyes in return, even Peturnia chirping a goodbye too. 

Verina couldn’t believe how fast she had made some new friends, she was giddy with the excitement of it. Toni and Amelia seemed incredibly kind and nice too, the type of people the Verina preferred to have around. 

After visiting the shopping mall and picking up some basics, including pokemon food and some poke beans that Sweetpea and Petunia basically begged for for, Verina was armed with almost too many shopping bags to carry and ready to go home. 

Pushing her hair out of her face with a heavy arm, they started the walk back to her house, the sun seeming even hotter now that it was late into the afternoon. Her Espeon carried a small bag in her mouth full of poke beans she had picked out herself, very pleased with herself. 

She passed a trainer’s school she hadn’t noticed before on her way back and once she came upon the Pokemon Center she almost skipped it because of how exhausted she was. She forced herself to go inside though, it was on the way and she was already here so she might as well. 

As soon as the doors opened Verina was greeted with commotion. She hesitated in the doorway, watching as a tall man exchanged heated words with the Nurse Joy behind the counter. 

“What do you mean you won’t heal my pokemon? This is a Pokemon Center, you’re Nurse Joy, it’s literally your job. Am I missing something here?” The man’s jaw was clenched as he obviously tried to keep his temper in check, hand banging on the counter once while he was talking. 

The Nurse Joy had an expression on her face that Verina had never seen on another Nurse Joy before; it was cold, stern. She wasn’t wavering.   
“We don’t assist criminals here. We heal the pokemon of legitimate trainers for free, if you want to heal your pokemon go buy some potions.” Nurse Joy stated, her voice frosty, as she turned away from the man.   
Was she...allowed to do that? Verina had never heard of a Pokemon Center turned away hurt pokemon before.   
The man stood at the counter for a moment, very still, before finally turning around and storming out the center, Verina catching a glimpse of his face as he went. 

His eyes were very angry, a stormy grey color that was very unique. He had white hair with a black undercut that was messy but it looked like it was purposefully styled to be that way. He also looked very tired, not just because of the slight bags under his eyes. His whole demeanor seemed tired, like he was exhaustion in human form. He was also wearing an outfit similar to the member of Team Skull she encountered earlier. He brushed past her as went out the door without looking at her. 

Verina hesitated before going over to buy some potions and repels, throwing in a couple extra potions before she could think too hard about what she was going to do.   
Cursing all the bags she had to carry she quickly exited the Pokemon Center after paying and looked around for the tall man, uncertain about what she would even say if she saw him. It didn’t matter though because she didn’t see him, but who could blame him for not wanting to stick around after that. 

Heart heavy at the thought of some hurt pokemon out there being punished because of who their trainer was she continued on her way home. 

Before she got far though she heard someone talking quietly in a soothing voice and she saw the man kneeling besides a white and orange pokemon a little way up Route 1. 

Walking over carefully as to not startle them Verina called out a soft, “hey!” 

The man stood up suddenly, shielding the pokemon from view as he stared down the short girl in front of him. 

“If you want to battle, I’m not in the mood for it, sweetheart. Bigger fish to fry and all that.” He smirked but Verina thought it didn’t seem that genuine. 

“No, I’m not looking for a battle. I just wanted to give you this.” She dug around ini one of her bags for a moment before pulling out two potions, avoiding his intense gaze. 

“Here,” she held them out, wondering if she was making a mistake. 

He seemed confused at the items in front of him, shifting his stance a little and giving Verina a view of the pokemon behind him. She noticed a potion already on the ground next to it and blushed. 

“Oh, you already… nevermind, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to see a pokemon not get healed or something so I, uh… sorry,” Verina babbled, backing up a little because the man was standing so close to her and his height was intimidating to the five foot two trainer. 

“You were going to give me those potions?” The man questioned, arching a brow at her. 

Verina nodded, still blushing. “I thought because Nurse Joy wouldn’t heal your pokemon you might be able to use it but I see you were already prepared.” 

The man shrugged, “Pokemon Centers heal ‘em up faster than potions, I thought it was worth a shot. Masquerain is doing okay though, he’ll be better in no time.”

Verina didn’t know what to say to that so she just nodded, figuring it was probably time to leave him alone with his pokemon. She opened her mouth to say something, maybe apologize again for assuming he wouldn’t heal his pokemon but she was interrupted by Petunia leaving her shoulder in a whirl of black and white. 

To her horror, the Vivillon went straight for the man’s head, feet tangling in his hair as she tried to find a place to perch. 

“Petunia, oh my god, leave the man alone! I’m so sorry about her, she has no sense of boundaries!” Verina remembered his angry eyes from before and was certainly not prepared to have him angry at her.

To her surprise though the man just laughed, reaching up to scratch Petunia under one of her wings in the spot that always made her practically melt. She let out a chitter that sounded more like purr than anything. 

“No worries, I love bug pokemon.” The man explained, smiling as the Vivillon hopped down off his head and onto his forearm. 

When he smiled Verina noticed he looked less tired. His grey eyes lit up slightly as he examined the Vivillon. Not that Verina would ever say it to his face but the two of them looked good together, all black and white. There was something appealing about seeing such a delicate and elegant pokemon on the arm of a man who was so intimidating. 

“Her name’s Petunia,” Verina offered, not sure what else to say. 

“Pretty name for a pretty girl,” he said back, turning his attention back to Verina. He gave her a considering look before asking, “and does her trainer have a name?”

“Verina,” she introduced herself holding out her hand for him to shake. 

He seemed amused but shook her hand anyway, his hand warm and solid in hers. “Not everyday someone wants to shake the hand of the boss of Team Skull.” 

Verina’s eyes widened at that; this was Guzma? He wasn’t at all what she was expecting. 

Her hand was still in his as she voiced her thoughts, “You’re Guzma?” 

He laughed at the doubtful tone in her voice. “What? I don’t live up to your expectations?” He said is a slightly mocking voice. 

She shook her head, pulling her hand away from his and immediately missing the warmth despite it being a million degrees.   
“Actually, I just moved to Melemele and heard about you today, I haven’t had much time to build up any expectations of the local crime boss.” Verina teased, mentally slapping herself. What was she doing? Trying to flirt with a criminal? 

He wasn’t bad on the eyes though, and so far he seemed normal enough, making Verina wonder how much truth there was to the rumors about Team Skull. 

Guzma smirked at her answer, “Oh really? We’ll have to change that, can’t have you not knowing who you’re messing with.” 

Verina blushed again, or had she even stopped blushing? She wasn’t sure. 

“Who said anything about messing with you?” She said innocently as she gathered up her stuff and gestured for Petunia to come along. She listened to her trainer but it was with a sad chirp that she left Guzma’s arm. 

Guzma still looked amused as she backed away from him. “You were messing with me as soon as you offered me those potions, sweetheart. I’ll be seein’ you.” He winked at Verina as she turned around, calling out a teasing, “will you?” as she walked away. 

She knew he was still watching her but she didn’t turn around on the short walk to her house, closing the door behind her and dropping all her bags with a heavy sigh of relief. Alola just got a lot more interesting in Verina’s opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we finally meet him!!! let me know what you all think :+) should i continue this?


End file.
